Bottle-capping machine.



f No. 7o2,7|6. y -Patented'lune i7,v |902;

- J. H. Fox.

BOTTLE ICAPPING MACHINE.

. (Application filed Aug. 6, 1901.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet Lw l .ppl

8635 venia/La?.

, No. 702,716. i Patented :une |7,' lgoz.

J. H. FUX. annua GAPPING MfAcH'lruf..

I (Application Bled Aug. 6,1901.) y (No Model.) l y v2 Sheng-sheet z;

cq l JMJ/65,250.2..

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in: Nonms' mins ou. worum-n UNITED .Sivit*13s PATENT OFFICE.

connu. rio-X1', or VN-iiw YORK, N.. Y.

` .BoTTLE-CAPPING MACHINE..

SPECIFICATION. forming part of; Letters Patent N o. 702,71@ dated June17, 1902. f Application flied August t, 1901. serial No. 71,060. (Nomodem l To all whom, it mayvcr'tcer'n.;V

Be it known that LJOHN H FOX, a citizen of the United States, residing-at 234 East Thirty-third street', New York,'count v of New York, Stateof NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bottle-Capping Machines, fully described and represented in thefollowingspecication and the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthe same.

The object ofthe present invention is to greatly cheapen and simplifythe construction of bottle-capping machines by avoiding the use ofautomatic "feeding, devices and clenching devices. This i's'effected byusing a simple tapering socket carried by' an imperforate spindle and'placing the crowns successively in such; socket 'by hand. Where thecrowns are fed to" theY socket automatically, they are introducedthrough a lateral passage above a sustaining-collar, through which theneck ofthe bottle is inserted, and the contraction of the crown, whichis caused by crimping it upon the bottle-neck, enables it to passthroughsuch aperture after it is secured upon the bottle. Such aconstruction cannot be used in my invention, in which the crowns areplaced in the open mouth ofy the socket by hand, and to permit suchintroduction of the crowns I. provide thelower end or face of thesocket' at-one sideof itsaperture with a pivot and hinge a movablecollar thereon, which may be turned sidewise from the aperture tointroduce the crown into the socket and pushed back beneath the apertureto support the crown while the bottle is capped. The aperture in thecollar is of suitable size to introduce the bottle-neck and to clear thecrown after it is crimped thereon, so that the bottle can be pushed upthrough the collar and drawn downward through the same with the crownattached.

In the annexed drawings,`Figure l is aside elevation of the apparatuswith its frame attached to averticaljpost. Fig. 2 isa front elevation'ofthe apparatus detached from the post and the cap compressed upon themouth of the bottle. Fig. 3 shows the under side of the socket with theretaining-collar swung to one side and a capinserted in the socket inreadiness to secureyby the collar. Fig. 4`is a cross-section of thecollar on line 4 4 in Fig. 3. Fig. is an edge view of the cap with asection of the socket. Fig'. 6 is a vertical sect-ion ofthe socket, cap,and collar applied Vto the bottle-mouth in' readiness for closing theflange upon the bead of the bottleneck. Fig. 7 is a plan ofthe tablewith the gage for centering the bottle and the frame-plate shown insection on line 7 7 in Fig. 2.

a designates the frame-plate'or bed of the apparatus shown, attached toa post b, 'which supports itvertically in a convenient positionto usethe apparatus.

c designates a table for supporting the bottle A and having a foot d,provided with vertical slots e, fromy one side of-which lateral recessesef are extendedto receive bolts f,which are lfixed in the plate a. andprojected through the slots. The lateralrecesses are formedat Vdifferentpoints of elevation in the sides of the slots and are thus adaptedtoiirlx'nly support the table in certain definite positions when thelateral recesses are pressed u pon the bolts and the footV of the tableclamped by the thumb-nuts on the' bolts, which are shown only in Fig. l.The table may thus be set to` bring bottles of certain denite heights'into operative relation to the capping-socket and is held firmly in suchdeinite positions by the engagement of the lateral 4recesses with thebolts. This means of 'adjustment requires no gage to set the table norany skill on the part of the opavoid the necessity of any guide to setthe j -table level, which I accomplish by providing two slots nearopposite edges of the foot d'and making the recessesor notches e in bothslots at coincident levels.

XU-"shaped` gagehu is projectedfffrom the frame-plate near the table tocenter the bottle, and its opening is made large enough to receive thelargest bottle to be capped, and

the'same apparatus may be used (without IOO change) to cap bottles ofthe same class which do not vary greatly in diameter and height. Avertical guide i' is formed at the top of the frame-plate a at asuitable distance from the plate to stand over the center of the bottle,and a spindlej is fitted thereto and provided at the lower end with thesocket 7s to receive the cap Z. The cap is shown in Fig. 6 with a corklining w. The spindle is formed with a shoulder, and a spring n isinserted between the shoulder and the guide i to normally raise thesocket.

A hand-leverp is hinged by a link q to the frame-plate a and is pivotedby bolt o to a joint upon the spindle, and the depression of thehand-lever compresses the spring n and forces the socket toward thebottle-neck.

The socket, as shown in Figs. 3 and 6, is formed with an interior recesss, which is slightly tapered internally and its mouth or outer edgerounded to admit the flange of the cap, which is flared outwardly, asshown in Fig. 5, and corrugated or ribbed upon its margin to facilitateits compression upon the bottleneck. A retaining-collar r is jointed bya pivot t upon the face of the socket and may be turned to slide overthe same, and thus retain the cap when placed in the socket, as shown inFig. G. The collar is formed with round central aperture 7, a littlesmaller than the flange of the cap, so as to retain the cap in thesocket, but larger than the diameter of the cap after compression, whichpermits the cap to be readily drawn from the socket when the bottle isremoved with the cap compressed thereon. A pin u (shown upon the socketin Fig. 3) serves as a stop to set the aperture 1" concentric with thesocket, and the collar is provided with a short handle having a hole o,in which a bent hook may be inserted to turn the, collar if it becomesjammed by the displacement of a cap within the socket.

The rounded corn er of the recess s is formed of such size that thecollar 1 crowds closely over the cap when turned to ret-ain the same;but the inner surface of the collar is slightly recessed or beveledtoward its central aperture i, as shown in Fig. Il, which affords alittle clearance for the flange of the cap as it is drawn inwardly whenpressed upward into the socket. Fig. 5 shows the socket with the taperconfined to the outer edge of the recess s, the remainder of the recessbeing cylindrical or parallel, and such form produces precisely the sameeffect as the socket having t-he tapered recess, as shown in Fig. G, asthe rounded corner of the recess forces the flange of the cap inwardlyand incloses it upon the bottle-neck, as desired.

The apparatus is operated as follows: The operator inserts a cap in thesocket with the collar moved to one side, as shown in Fig. 3, and thecollar is then turned beneath the cap, as shown in Fig. 6. The movementof the socket toward the bottle-neck operates to force the cap upwardinto the socket, the

resistance of the flange first tightly crowding the cork il) against theneck of the bottle, thus firmly closing its mouth. When the compressionof the cork develops sufficient resistance to compress the flange of thecap, the cap is crowded upwardly into the recess s and the taperingsides or flaring mouth of the socket crowd the corrugations upon theflange inwardly and lock them around the bead B. Such compression of theflange reduces its diameter, so that when the socket is lifted byreleasing the pressure upon the handlep the cap may be readily withdrawnthrough the aperture r', attached to the bead upon the bottle.

Having thus set forth the nature of the in vention, what is claimedherein isl. The bottle-capping machine having a table for supporting thebottle, the socket 7.', having recess s with its outer edge adapted tocrowd inwardly the flange of the cap, the pivot if upon the face of thesocket at one side ofthe recess, with the collar r pivoted thereon andmovable laterally over the recess, and having central aperature r alittle smaller than the flange of the cap to sustain the cap when placedin the socket, and means for pressing the socket upon the bottle-mouth.

2. The bottle-capping machine having a table for supporting the bottle,the socket 7.; having recess s with its outer edge adapted to crowdinwardly the flange of the cap, the pivot t upon the face of the socketat one side of the recess, with the collar r pivoted thereon and movablelaterally over the recess, and having central aperture 7*/ alittlesmaller than the flange of the cap to sustain the cap when placed in thesocket, but such aperture being larger than the diameter of the capafter compression, whereby the bottle-neck may be inserted through thecollar and with drawn therefrom with the compressed ca) thereon. f

3. The bottle-capping machine having a table for supporting the bottle,the socket r. having recess s with its outer edge adapted to crowdinwardly the flange of the cap, the pivot t upon the face of the socketat one side of the recess, with the collar r pivoted thereon and movablelaterally over the recess, and having central aperture fr a littlesmaller than the flange of the cap to sustain the cap when placed in thesocket, the stop-pin u upon the face of the socket to adjust the collarwith its aperture r' concentric with the socket, and means for pressingthe socket upon the bottlemouth.

4. The bottle-capping machine having a table for supporting the bottle,the socket 7c having recess s withits outer edge adapted to crowdinwardly the flange of the cap, the pivot t upon the face of the socketat one side of the recess, with the collar r pivoted thereon and movablelaterally over the recess, and having central aperture i" a littlesmaller than the flange of the cap to sustain the cap when placed in thesocket, and the collar being sloped upon its inner side near theaperture IOO IIC

r to aord clearance for the ange of the cap when the collar is slidunderthe cap, substan tially as herein set forth.

5. The bottle-capping machineherein shown pin, the shoulder formednponthe 'upper part of the spindle with spring fn inserted between theshoulder vand the guide c', and the handlever p pivoted to thespindle'with link q hinging the same to the plate a, the whole beingadapted to have the cap placed in the socket by hand, the collar turnedto support the cap, the bottle sustained upon the table,

and the cap attached to thebottle by depress ing the hand-lever,substantially as herein set forth.

6. The bottle-cappinginachineherein,shown and described, comprising theflat frame-plate a having upon its upper end the guideqlwith spindle jhaving socket to cap the bottles, and the table c withfoot CZ fitted tothe frame-plate with bolts extended through the plate andthe foot, andthe foot lhaving two verticalA slots e with'lateral recess e atcoincident levels, to engage the bolts in specic positions o f the tableand to hold the table level in such positions, substantially as hereinset forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of tWosubscribing Witnesses.

A JOHN H. FOX. Witnesses:

THoMAs S. CRANE, L. LEE.

